Man jailed for laundering €1m in exchange for food

Natasha Reid

A 35-year-old Ukrainian man laundered more than €1 million in cash in exchange for food, a court has heard.

Oleksandr Strymbu, with an address at Beverly Downs, Knocklyon, Co. Dublin, was jailed for five years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday.

He had pleaded guilty to handling €1,058,575, the proceeds of crime, at that address on June 13th, 2024.

Detective Garda Kate Gilligan told the court that the rented house he shared was searched that day, and more than €1 million in cash was found in six shopping and gift bags in his bedroom, which was a converted living room.

They were quite visible, she said.

Some of the cash was in vacuum packs, and some was gathered with elastic bands, and there was a cash counting machine on the coffee table.

A further €25,900 in cash was found in an upstairs bedroom.

The defendant told gardaí that he had been tasked with carrying out collections for his housemate, who was also his brother-in-law, and had been doing it for a few weeks.

He said that he would travel to various locations in a van, hand over Ukrainian bank notes to a person, who would put a bag in the van.

He would then leave the bags in his room for collection.

He said that he didn’t know how much cash was in the bags or where the money came from. He also said that he was not getting paid but would get money for fuel and be taken out for food.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Oisín Clarke BL, Det Gda Gilligan agreed that Strymbu had described himself as an idiot to gardaí.

“I trusted my relative. I said I didn’t want anything to do with it, but said I would help him,” he said. “I didn’t want anything for it. Now I’m here, where’s he?”

Mr Clarke said that his client’s wife, two children and parents are all in Ukraine. They had come here with him for three months but could not stay. Strymbu hasn’t had any visits since going into custody in June of last year.

Counsel handed in a ‘heartfelt’ letter from the defendant's wife, who spoke about their young children not seeing him for nearly a year.

Mr Clarke explained that Strymbu has a degree in PE from Ukraine but had managed to get work in that field for only one year before moving to the UK and then here, where he worked in construction.

Strymbu was to be the breadwinner in the family and send money home from Ireland. He now works in the prison kitchen seven days a week and attends school Monday to Friday.

Counsel said that Strymbu was well regarded by his community and handed in a reference from his priest.

Mr Clarke submitted that he would not have any visits while in custody here and pointed out that English is not his first language.

“He was holding and collecting, essentially a courier,” he said of his client's role. “He was low on the ladder in money laundering, even though the money is large.”

Judge Martin Nolan noted that the gardaí believed the money had come from the drugs trade.

“He was a vital cog in this criminal organisation,” he said. “I would say he was at least in the middle in the hierarchy. I'd say he’d have to be trusted to handle this amount of cash.”

He imposed a prison term of five years.